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We often get emails where you guys need some cupcake help. I have decided that it would be most helpful to post some of your questions here.

Q-I was wondering if you could help me. Whenever I bake cupcakes, or any breads really, they come out a little on the dry side. Now, I live in Phoenix Arizona, and we’re known for our dry heat, so that may be a contributing factor, but I was wondering if you have any suggestions. Please help. I wholly trust your advice. Thanks so much for your time.

6 Responses to Cupcake Help!

I was going to tell you that high-elevation is most likely the cause (apparently Arizona has a lot of high-elevation cities), but I noticed you are located in Phoenix, which is 1,117 ft. above sea level. To adjust for high-elevations, you would have to be above 3000 ft. That being said, there could be several other reasons why your baked goods are coming out too dry.

1. You are over-beating your batter. Over-beating causes gluten to form and creates a more dense, dryer cake. If your cake involves beating egg whites, over-beating the egg whites is also a problem.

2. Ratio of dry ingredients to liquid ingredients is high. You could try playing around with the measurements, but that has the potential to be disastrous. If you do, I would cut down the amount of flour. Also, look for recipes that have more eggs and liquids, like milk or oil, which will give you a moister cake.

3. Amount of leavening (baking powder or baking soda) is too high. If you are using too much leavening, it will cause your cake to rise too fast and eventually collapse.

4. Make sure your oven is calibrated properly. Buy an oven thermometer to properly check the oven temperature. Baking at too high or too low a temperature can cause dry cakes and breads.

That’s all I can think of right now, but if I remember anything else, I’ll post it. I’m thinking #1 might be the main problem.

I agree with Tanya…all those are great points. But, sometimes, when I do all that I still have dry cupcakes. So, to make my cake a little more moist, I substitute canola oil for butter for a small portion. For example – if the recipe calls for 3/4 cup softened butter, I will use 1/2 C butter and 1/4 cup canola oil. Don’t know if that’s cheating, but it always works for me!

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I love baking so my boyfriend’s mom gave me a 500 cupcake recipe book as a gift and so far I have made 3 different cupcakes from it: Key Lime, Banana, and Devil’s Food, but they have all came out of the oven a little dry is there a way I can add something to the recipe or alter it some how to make them more soft & moist??